Update from Luna Mercato

Hello and what a beautiful summer it’s been so far. I am Brad Hayden, owner of Bardstown Food Manufacturer & Luna Mercato. I was notified of this site some time back, but kept to myself. I was notified of the site because of the issues dealing with Luna Mercato. I have come back now to post an update and hopefully a resolution to any problems people had with Luna Mercato in the past.

When we first bought the business, it was relatively new to us, the dairy food manufacturing end that is. We had to learn a great deal, in such a short time. In 1 year, we have greatly learned a lot and corrected any problems. Some of these learning curves was a new plastic container, we found out that the first plastic container we used was actually letting oxygen sip through the plastic, odd, I know. Secondly, we even worked with University of Louisville Food Department on testing and evaluating the mold issue with Luna Mercato to understand any procedures we could possible do to add shelf life and to ultimately understand what the true shelf life of Luna is. After a lot of patience and coordination with Charlie Staff and his staff at UofL we have double the shelf life of Luna Mercato safely.

Some people have proclaimed that some ingredients have changed since the new ownership. I wanted to put this myth to rest and conclude that we have the originally recipes from Ed (original founder) and have not altered the recipes in any way to alter the quality or flavors. I want you to make note that we have changed some quality such as using Kentucky dairy farms cheese to make our products even more Kentucky Proud. Some of the cheeses we use is the Colby cheese, which just placed 3rd in a world competition. Also the Sharp White Cheddar placing 6th a couple years back as best overall cheese.

These are just a few of the steps to better Luna Mercato. We are now all over Kentucky and currently expanding our services with Bardstown Food Manufacturing. We are working with companies on now manufacturing their food and developing it.
Here is a current list of all Luna Mercato products now:
Spreads:
• Roasted Artichoke & Lemon Spread
• White Cheddar Pimento Spread
• Chihuahua Chipotle Spread
• Simply Benedictine
• Mexikana Spread
• Mediterranean Goat Cheese Spread
• Feta Dill Spread
• Asiago Roasted Garlic Spread
• Cuban Black Bean Spread
• Gouda Pecan Spread
• Tuscan Spread
• Hot Pepper Cheddar Pimento Spread NEW
• Honey Walnut Spread NEW
• Bourbon White Cheddar Spread NEW
• Fresco Spread NEW

Dressings:
• Amish Blue Cheese
• Green Goddess

Thanks for all your patience and please try our new Luna products.

Please feel free to contact me or visit our new site.

(502)510-5012 Mobile
(502)348-2551 Fax
Brad@bardstownfood.com
Bardstownfood.com

[Robin Garr]

Brad, thanks for the detailed report, and a warm welcome to the forum!

love Luna
yum

Hey Brad,

Please tell your Dad that Deb Reese Hall says "Hi". Glad to hear the new business is going well- we love Luna Mercato!

Deb

Brad,

Say you spent the last five years living inside of a pizza shop. Then one day, you had some extra time and the inclination to go out and buy some of your spreads. Where would I look? I didn't see anything on the bardstown website.

-Scott

well first off, i'd look for a vacation destination (for when you retire) we all know you can't vacation in a food industry. Secondly, Scott if you could tell me your were abouts, I can recommend locations around that area, so that I'm not favoring 1 vendor over the other.

Brad,

Can you just post your whole list of retailers in the Louisville area so all of us know where to get it?

Thanks,
Deb

I live in Pewee Valley, but I spend quite a bit of time driving all over eastern Louisville and the rest of Oldham County these days.

Brad,

Can you just post your whole list of retailers in the Louisville area so all of us know where to get it?

Thanks,
Deb

I started to make that list as soon as I made the other post. I had most of the list, but being as I go through Town & Country Specialty Foods, I'll stop by the office to make sure I don't leave 1 vendor out.

Here is the list that I hopefully generated correctly. The list is just alphabetical. Please note that the spread types vary from location to location.

Evergreen Liquors
Garden Gate Fruit Market
Liquor Barn’s (all locations)
Market on Market
Mikes Best Meats
Old Town Liquors
Old Mill Wine & Spirits
Party Mart
Paul’s Fruit Markets (all locations)
Prospect Party Center
Rainbow Blossum (St. Matthew)
The Bodega at Felice
The Wine Rack
ValuMarket (Bardstown Rd)

[Robin Garr]

The Wine Rack

Walking distance for me! Awwright!

Didn't you get into Lotsa Pasta though, Brad? It's really the go-to place for foodies. I'll try some from the Wine Rack soon and assuming I love it as much as I expect to, I'll mention it to John at Lotsa Pasta the next time I see him.

Robin,

Don't know, but Lotsa Pasta might be reluctant to carry Luna as they make many of their own "cheese spreads", some of which have similiar combinations....

Got to get me some of the Mediterrean Goat Cheese Spread- it's wonderful!

Deb

[Robin Garr]

Don't know, but Lotsa Pasta might be reluctant to carry Luna as they make many of their own "cheese spreads", some of which have similiar combinations....

True. They used to carry them, though. That's where I usually got my gouda-pecan.

I think at some point when Ed was running Luna they had some arrangement or business they did together (lotsa & Luna). But please, feel free to pitch my product to any vendor... beside wal-mart .... I am a firm believer in using REAL cheese and gourmet spreads.